Band 2, Heft 1

Purpose This comparative study of streaming services in different cultural and economic contexts shows how they optimize the user experience by improving recommendation algorithms, upgrading infrastructure, and developing global services, in responding to the crisis of losing subscribers. Method We use analysis of industry documents to demonstrate how different approaches to streaming video business value user-generated data and reconstruction practices. Findings There is already a similar trend among global streaming platforms to create a pan-media entertainment & cultural service by increasing revenue streams and merchandise offering categories, as well as keeping subscriptions and attracting more viewers in the long run. Practical implications The study displays how streaming platforms with SVOD, AVOD, and Mix-funded modes are changing their business strategies in the current hyperinflationary and increasingly competitive media market, updating how they create user-centered practices in search of ultimate commercial success. Social implications It also illustrates how different commercial streaming service formats end up with similar solutions to the challenges. Originality/value The study is a comparative analysis of the streaming phenomenon as it happens in real-time, complementing the observation and evaluation of the latest updates in the streaming industry and predicting the future trends of global brands in the digital ecosystem under different commercial and cultural logics.

Purpose This study investigates the influence of individual- and country-level factors on citizen members’ attitude and actions regarding plastic waste. At the individual level, it assesses the influence of the diversity of environmental news use from traditional media, online social networks, and other internet sources on the public’s support for policy and green behaviors related to plastic waste. Design/methodology/approach We utilized secondary survey data collected from 27 European countries by Eurobarometer. Results The two-level analysis show that several individual factors including gender, age, political ideology, risk perception, and most importantly diversity of sources in environmental news use , from all three types of media sources, was positively associated with participants’ policy support and green behaviors related to plastic waste. This research also found the influence of several country-level variables on green behaviors toward plastic waste. Implications When assessing support for plastic waste control, various factors at both levels (i.e., country and individual) need to be considered to mobilize the public. Findings suggest extending the theoretical model of social cognitive theory to include more country-level factors especially in cross-national comparison. Originality/value This study shed lights on understanding factors that could influence public policy support and green behaviors with regards to plastic waste.

Purpose The relationship between China and the United States has been in freefall in recent years. Both the Covid-19 pandemic and the U.S.-China trade war contributed to more negative perceptions of China among the American public. This study analyzes how Americans’ news consumption and personal traits affected their general perceptions of China before and after the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 to explore how major international events might influence people’s perceptions of foreign nations. Design/methodology/approach This study relied on data from two national online surveys conducted in the United States in early 2019 ( N  = 1,250) and 2021 ( N  = 1,237). Both surveys measure the respondents’ media use, personal traits, and their perceptions of China. Findings The findings indicate that perceptions of China were mostly shaped by exposure to partisan and social media—rather than consumption of mainstream news media. However, these relationships were significantly stronger in 2021 than in 2019, pointing to a growing influence of the U.S. news media in U.S.-China relations. This study also found that partisanship and personal traits were strong predictors of Americans’ attitudes toward China. Practical implications Researchers can learn from this study which variables should be included in surveys that focus on public perceptions of foreign affairs. Social implications This study shows that media effects and personal traits interact in complex ways to shape Americans’ perceptions of China. Originality/value This study analyzes and compares data from two national representative samples, offering insights into how major international events might influence public opinion. It also measures the possible impact of the Chinese social media platform TikTok on Americans’ perceptions of China.

Purpose The goal of this study is to explore how memes are used as tools to expose and shame corruption in Ghana. The Ghanaian media has used memes to criticize unhealthy governmental and social practices and advocated for alternative approaches to addressing these issues. Thus, we explore the qualities memes possess in contributing to the anti-corruption discourse in Ghana. Methods Using visual rhetoric and metaphorical analysis of five media memes purposively collected from the Facebook page of Tilapia Da Cartoonist of TV3, this study discusses the approaches memes employ to ridicule and humorize the fight against corruption in Ghana and suggests remediations for governmental corruption. Results We find that memes play crucial anti-corruption roles. As such, they criticize corruption by showing the impact of corruption on the average citizen. Memes reveal the suppression of anti-corruption agents and agencies and the lack of real commitment to the fight against corruption in Ghana. While memes expose and criticize corruption, they also provide utilitarian approaches to addressing corruption. Central to this study, the research finds that humor is a basic feature of memes. However, within the Ghanaian media context, the humor in a meme does not affect the seriousness of the message a meme conveys. Practical implications Memes can be used strategically as an advocacy tool and a good complement to daily news reports. Social implications Media memes could be used as active media tools to produce, reproduce, distribute, and enhance complex socio-political narratives in society. This may have social and political implications for society. Originality This is the first study to explore memes as an anti-corruption media text. It is also the first study to examine the impact of humor on the message a meme conveys. This is done through a qualitative interpretation of the memes. Limitations and recommendations are provided.

This article discusses the origins and development of research on online media and online political communication studies in Brazil. It analyzes the factors influencing the origins and development of the research on online media in the country. One the one hand, Brazil belongs to the semiperiphery of the international research system. On the other hand, when the online media appeared, there was already a solid tradition of Communication research in the country. It presents an overview of how Communication education and research organized in Brazil. Against this backdrop, it presents three stages of online media research development in Brazil: (a) incipient, (b) consolidation, and (c) new frontiers. In particular, it examines the impact that online media had on the Brazilian Political Communication research agenda.

Possibilities of applying automated content analysis in journalism studies include, for example, machine learning to identify topics in journalistic coverage or measuring news diffusion via automated approaches. But how have computational methods been applied thus far? And what are consequences of the “computational turn” in communication science, especially concerning interdisciplinarity? Based on a systematic literature review, this article summarizes the use of automated content analysis in journalism studies. Results illustrate an increasing use of the method by communication scientists, as yet another indicator of methodological interdisciplinarity in communication science. However, there is little evidence of an increase in theoretical interdisciplinarity: Studies relying on computational methods do not increasingly refer to theories from other disciplines. With respect to practical interdisciplinarity, for instance collaborations, our discipline is by no means becoming more interdisciplinary. Instead, we find a shift in favor of technical disciplines. At least up to now, the “computational turn” in communication science should thus not be equated with an “interdisciplinary turn.”